SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn completed the first private spacewalk

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn astronauts successfully performed a spacewalk, marking the first done by a private company. After depressurizing SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, the billionaire funding the mission, Jared Isaacman, emerged from the spacecraft early Thursday morning.

With his torso and head fully sticking outside the capsule, Isaacman performed tests on SpaceX’s new spacesuits, which are designed for increased mobility. “Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do,” Isaacman said during the spacewalk. “But from here, it sure looks like a perfect world.”

After Isaacman returned to the capsule, SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis exited the spacecraft to conduct other tests. Neither of them floated freely, and both relied on 12-foot-long umbilical cords to provide them with oxygen.

The two other privately trained Polaris Dawn astronauts, SpaceX engineer Anna Menon and retired US Air Force fighter pilot Scott Poteet, stayed inside the capsule. They remained exposed to the vacuum of space, as the Dragon capsule doesn’t have an airlock.

In addition to making history with the first commercial spacewalk, the Polaris Dawn crew also reached a higher orbit than any other astronauts since the Apollo missions.